MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • The tie-up will ensure patrons can access blockbusters of every decade across Tamil, Marathi and Hindi

    BigFlix allies with Shemaroo for all-time hits

    By A Correspondent

     

    Reliance Entertainment Digital’s movie-on-demand service, BigFlix, has formed a licensing agreement with leading content house Shemaroo Entertainment allowing its users to stream a wide range of blockbusters movies – ranging from black and white films to some of the most recent releases.

     

    The catalogue offers an assortment of timeless classics to latest hits with a perfect blend of genres in multiple languages – Hindi, Marathi and Tamil. Few of the finest Hindi classics like the iconic film Mughal-E-Azam, Raj Kapoor’s Anari, Mithun’s Disco Dancer, Rajesh Khanna’s Roti to some of the contemporary films like Amitabh Bachchan’s Black, Aamir Khan’s Sarfarosh, Vidya Balan’s Ishqiya & The Dirty Picture and so on form the part of the list.

     

    Commenting on the association with Shemaroo, Shreyash Sigtia, Business Head, BigFlix, said: “There is a definite demand for classic films amongst movie enthusiasts and Shemaroo Entertainment is credited to have given Indian audiences some iconic and successful titles in Bollywood for decades now.”

     

    Jai Maroo, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment said: “Our vision is to be present on all devices, any time and on any connection. Being a prominent online platform in digital space, BigFlix will help us cater to wider range of audience across geographies.”

     

  • Unilever has set up its first media lab in the country in Mumbai which will train its managers on digital media marketing and certify all digital initiatives of its Indian unit before they go public.

    Hindustan Unilever sets up lab to train managers on digital media marketing

    By Sagar Malviya & Amit Bapna

     

    Unilever has set up its first media lab in the country in Mumbai, which will train its managers on digital media marketing and certify all digital initiatives of its Indian unit before they go public.

     

    The development signals a sharp focus on digital marketing by the country’s largest advertiser, and may make other marketers too to take the digital world more seriously.

     

    The lab at Hindustan Unilever’s headquarter at Andheri is the fourth such centre globally for the world’s second-largest consumer goods firm.

     

    Atit Mehta, media services head at Hindustan Unilever, said so far the company has been focusing on doing the similar things much better than others on digital media.

     

    “Now, we will be miles ahead from everybody else,” he said. The lab will ensure that all digital media campaigns of the consumer goods giant are compatible – from a basic mobile device to smartphone to tablet.

     

    The company will also increasingly opt for digital hoardings instead of static old banners. Digital media spends in India, although still very small compared traditional media, is growing at a faster rate than television and print as a rapidly rising number of Indians access internet on phone.

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Experts say HUL’s latest initiative would make other advertisers too to focus more on digital media. “Presently digital in general is under-leveraged. HUL has definitely been ahead of the curve. It’s only a matter of time before more advertisers start making serious investments in the medium,” said CVL Srinivas, chief executive officer (South Asia) at media buying agency GroupM.

     

    Vivek Bhargava, CEO of digital agency iProspect-Communicate2, says companies have no option but to take digital seriously as more and more consumers are trying to avoid conventional advertising. He says that if companies don’t allocate serious resources on digital marketing, then it could affect their survival.

     

    Vivek Bhargava

    Globally, Unilever increased its digital ad spends by about 40% in 2012-13. While Unilever has global partnerships with Samsung, Sony’s Arcade Creative Group and EA Sports, its Indian unit isn’t far behind. In the last few months, several HUL managers have been to global headquarters of Facebook and Google among others for training and digital certification.

     

    HUL launched a India-specific initiative, BE Digital, last year to draw up a complete digital roadmap for premium brands such as Tresemme, Sunsilk, Lakme, Close-up and Surf, where the target audience online is high.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • A settlement may have been reached, but not much has changed save a new terminology being introduced

    Back to Square One?!

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The month-plus-old face-off between advertisers and media agencies on one side and broadcasters on the other ended yesterday with a settlement.

     

    While what’s dished out is a multi-tiered subscription structure, the bottomline is: nothing has really changed. “It’s bunkum,” a news broadcaster told us. While we will toe the line of our association, in reality, we have achieved nothing. In fact earlier we could at least have some fun with claims on ratings, now we’ll be required to behave,” he chuckled.

     

     

    What the stakeholders said:

    IBF President Man Jit Singh: We are delighted to have reached this agreement. We believe it is important for the industry, and from the perspective of our social responsibility, we must reflect both the growing television audience and the data in a more stable and useful manner. We want to thank AAAI and ISA in collaborating and working out a solution acceptable to all constituents.

     

    Hemant Bakshi, Chairman of Media Committee and Managing Committee of the Indian Society of Advertiser: As three concerned constituents, who believe in working together, we have decided to refer all future currency related changes to the BARC technical committee. I’m glad that now we will have an effective guide and monitor for ratings in the country

     

    Arvind Sharma, President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India: Getting weekly TVR% is important for media planners and buyers to effectively plan and buy TV  and do mid- plan course corrections and post analysis. We are glad that we have been able to agree that the agencies and advertisers will have access to this data as in the past. From tomorrow, we look forward to being able to focus back on our clients businesses and effective planning and buying for their brands

     

    A senior media agency professional though said that nothing had changed even with claims. Only the currency has changed from TVRs to TVTs. So the number you will see will be different and larger, but the claims and counter-claims can continue. And there’s nothing wrong with it. As long as the war between a Coke and Pepsi or a Colgate versus Pepsodent or Oral-B stays healthy, there’s no problem.

     

    What’s important in the statement issued is that the media and public in general will only be served information in the form of TVTs or television viewership in thousands. Broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies can get all the possible information as earlier in the Media Xpress Gold option.

     

    A senior industryperson told MxMIndia that just because a certain broadcaster takes a basic model doesn’t mean that an advertiser or its media agency does not have the detailed data.

     

    Research agency TAM meanwhile, has issued a statement saying it is happy to receive a common brief from the three industry stakeholders – IBF, ISA and AAAI – and will work very closely with them. Although the TAM spokesperson refused to be drawn into a discussion, but from the discussions that we had various stakeholders around the time when NDTV had filed a law suit, there have been virtually no clearly technical or advisory committees for the last decade.

     

    A cross-section of industryfolks MxMIndia spoke with believe that this round has been won by the advertiser. But, expect the broadcasters to flex their muscles a little more when their revenues from digitization increases. One also needs to factor how the government-controlled Doordarshan (and Prasar Bharti) react to the entire situation.

     

    Things are only going to get more complex as the battleground for the general elections gets hotter and BARC processes start taking shape.

     

     

    The Specifics of the Solution:

     

    TAM data, henceforth, will be available, through 3 different software pipelines: 

    a. One official industry Software called Media Xpress Platinum

    b. Along with Two customized/optional Softwares called Media Xpress Gold and Media Xpress Silver.

     

    All the 3 software deployments will be as follows: 

    Media Xpress Platinum – Official Industry level Software 

    This software will have all the TV channels expressed as an average of 4 weeks data. This data will be released on a Weekly basis with the rolled up average of the present week data along with the last 3 weeks data. The ratings will be expressed only as TVT 000s (TVRs in Thousands). This Software will be released to all subscribers who could like to download it. All analysis will be possible only on a Day-Part level. No individual/specific Program level data will be available for reporting in this software.  This Software created freshly will be made available by August end/Sept first week.

     

    Media Xpress Gold - Customized/Optional Software : 1 

    This software will have all the TV channels reported on a Weekly basis. This data will have ratings data expressed in TVT 000s as well as TVR%. The data for the Software will be released on a weekly basis. This software will have all the analysis possible at a Day-Part as well as individual Program level, including minute to minute Program and Ad data. This will have the facility to import the Ad Spots for Media Agencies/Advertisers to evaluate the Ad plans executed. It will be released on a customized basis for those subscribers like Agencies/Advertisers (and also Broadcasters who have not opted out of the reporting of TVR% data presently). It will work exactly like the earlier Media Xpress with all functionalities available for the Planner/Buyer. The Software will be ready for deployment on 8th August 2013. However, this software should be used by the Client Organization for internal analysis purpose only and not in media/public domain. This software will be made available to the user post signing of an NDA as agreed upon with ISA-IBF-AAAI jointly.

     

    Media Xpress Silver - Customized/Optional Software : 2 

    This software will have all the TV channels reported on a Weekly basis. This data will have ratings data expressed only in TVT 000s. The data for the Software will be released on a weekly basis. This software will have all the analysis possible at a Day-Part as well as individual Program level, including ability to drill down to individual Program’s minute data on a specific day. This will have the facility to import the Program Promos for Broadcasters to evaluate the Program Promo plans and also the Ad Logs. It will be released on a customized basis for those subscribers (primarily Broadcasters) who have opted out of the reporting of TVR% data. The Software will be ready for deployment on August 8, 2013. This software will be made available to the user post signing of an NDA as agreed upon with ISA-IBF-AAAI jointly.

     

    All subscribers will be given the Media Xpress Platinum Software. To subscribe to Media Xpress Gold and Silver additionally, the subscribers will have to take the following steps:

    (a) The subscriber will have to sign a NDA with TAM stating that the usage of Media Xpress Gold (with TVR%) customized Software is strictly for internal analysis purpose andnot for any public usage of the data.

     

    (b) Incase of non-signing of the NDA, TAM will not be in a position to deliver Media Xpress Gold (with TVR%) customized Software. TAM will be notifying the same to the concerned association (IBF/AAAI/ISA) to help facilitate a resolution.

     

    (c) For subscribers who sign the NDA and violate the usage norm (displaying TVR% data in Public), TAM will be forced to stop the Media Xpress Gold (with TVR%) customized Software subscription and will report it to the concerned association (IBF/AAAI/ISA) to help facilitate a resolution

     

    Timelines & Next Steps –

    1. With immediate effect, TAM will provide the original MediaXpress software (reporting TVR%/GRP%, etc.) for use till August 8, 2013.
    2. By the 8th August, if the client wishes to use anyone of the two optional versions (Gold/Silver), TAM would require an NDA signed from the client’s end covering the terms of use as briefly stated above.
    3. By end-August/first-week September, MediaXpress will be replaced by MediaXpress Platinum.

     

     

     

  • Publicis Groupe SA and Omnicom are reportedly in advanced level talks for a merger of equals

    Publicis, Omnicom in merger talks

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    You don’t need to pinch yourself. We do have a sense of humour but it’s no April 1 and we aren’t imagining things. New York and Paris are getting closer with ad biggies Publicis Groupe SA and Omnicom reportedly in advanced level talks for merger.

     

     

    See also:

    > Ad Age: Omnicom-Publicis in merger talks. Here’s why it seems unlikely

     

    > Daily Telegraph: Omnicom-Publicis 20 billion pounds ‘merger’ faces regulatory hurdles

     

     

    > Bloomberg: Publicis said to be in late-stage talks on merger with Omnicom

     

    It’s not the case of one gobbling up the other, but more of a getting together of equals. But it sure means some mindboggling realignments with such biggies like creative agencies Leo Burnett, Saatchi and Saatchi, Publicis Worldwide, BBDO, and DDB together. Ditto with Zenith Optimedia, Starcom, OMD, PHD. And MSLGroup, Ketchum…. some arch rivals may be part of the same flock.

     

    A senior official of one of the agencies told MxMIndia that while it’s an interesting situation at this point, such a merger will need to happen given the way the world is going.

     

    Needless to say, the combined Ominicom-Publicis entity will overtake current #1 WPP. Both companies did not comment at the time of filing this report and there have been some who have said the merger may well not happen.

     

  • The Creative Central is an effort directed towards creating more insightful creative work for clients

    McCann forms Creative Central with Praduymna Chauhan as ECD

    By A Correspondent

     

    McCann Worldgroup India has announced the formation of Creative Central with Praduymna Chauhan to lead it creatively. The Creative Central is an effort directed towards creating more insightful creative work for clients, a communiqué said.

     

    Prasoon Joshi

    Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup India and South Asia welcomed Mr Chauhan as Executive Creative director, Creative Central. “With a sharp and insightful approach reinforced by a stellar body of work, Pradyumna is keen to create work that impacts popular culture. Based currently in Mumbai, he will work with our creative directors and teams across McCann India offices and functions on our key brands. In the near future we will find more people with a similar skill set and approach to strengthen McCann Creative Central,” he said.

     

    Mr Chauhan is credited with the MP Tourism Ajab Hai and Colours campaigns, Asian Paints, Star’s Satyamev Jayate, Vodafone ICICI and Birla Sun Life’s Jab Tak Balla Chalta Hai. Before joining MWG, he was Group Creative Director at Ogilvy Mumbai. He has also worked on Airtel, LG Electronics, General Motors, HPCL etc.

     

    According to Mr Joshi, the setting up of the Creative Central is an important step towards increasing the creative width of MWG India’s offerings to its clients.

     

  • The merger of holding companies Omnicom and Publicis Groupe is quite simply the biggest news in the history of the marketing communications industry. The jury is out on what this means for India, a market where WPP is a clear leader.

    Omnicom-Publicis merger likely to reshape advertising industry in India

    By Ravi Balakrishnan

     

    The merger of holding companies Omnicom and Publicis Groupe is quite simply the biggest news in the history of the marketing communications industry. Speculation is rife that former global market leader WPP (which owns O&M, JWT and Grey among others) or the resurgent Japanese giant Dentsu will now make a tempting offer to Interpublic (the holding company for McCann Erickson, Draft FCB and Lowe). But it’s still not going to be anywhere near the scale of the world’s second- and third-largest marketing communication giants joining forces.

     

    The jury is out on what this means for India, a market where WPP is a clear leader. An agency CEO who prefers to remain anonymous says that one of the fallouts is to make Omnicom and Publicis at least as large as if not larger than Interpublic in India. While struggling overseas, Interpublic agencies like Lowe Lintas and Draftfcb+Ulka, with a portfolio of homegrown business, are among the larger agencies in the country.

     

    Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett and Publicis are solid performers, but Saatchi & Saatchi is counted a laggard. The Groupe’s key media brand Starcom MediaVest is perceived to have lost steam over the years. After almost a decade trying to crack India, Omnicom now has a strong flagship in DDB Mudra. While BBDO has done well on allied clients, it’s had limited success at picking up non-network business. While globally a creative powerhouse, TBWA is again among the smaller shops in India. Counted among the fastest growing media agencies in the country, OMD does not have the size of WPP’s Group M or even independent media outfit Madison.

     

    Praveen Kenneth, chairman, Law & Kenneth, believes getting more global media muscle is perhaps the key reason for the merger: “They are not doing this to maximise or reduce people but so that they can negotiate with media better since that’s the only way agencies can earn. While they are both doing well, they need to do this if they want to make the next five years better.”

     

    While much is being made about the potential conflict of interest, that’s not as serious an issue as it used to be. All the holding companies have case studies to prove that rival brands can be handled by different agencies owned by the same entity with no problems.

     

    Rohit Ohri

    Where industry insiders anticipate friction is in the structure of the group. Says Rohit Ohri, executive chairman of the Dentsu group, “Both these companies don’t have scale in India. This will give them scale but it will be interesting to see how they are structured since they are completely different. In a network that has competing agencies, what is the synergy and value you get will be the big question.”

     

     

     

    Manish Bhatt

    The culture problems run deep since Omnicom is an all American holding company while Publicis wears its French connections on its sleeve. On a more workaday basis, reporting structures are expected to be a stumbling block. As Manish Bhatt, founder of independent agency Scarecrow points out, “This is not an industry where people retire and so issues like which creative reports to which suit can create complexity.”

     

     

    Sajan Raj Kurup

    The merger is not yet cause for fear mongering among the independent agencies – at least not just yet. Says Sajan Raj Kurup, founder and creative chairman, Creativeland Asia, “The strength of independents will grow post this deal. When two giants collide, you always have little fragments emitted out. Some big guys will pack up and start on their own. The only repercussion of this consolidation deal would be more fragmentation.”

     

    For the foreseeable future though, Publicis Omnicom Group is the advertising industry’s proverbial unassailable 1,000 pound gorilla, a position that WPP held till just last Saturday.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • 'Merger of equals' to create Publicis Omnicom Group, with combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion and a combined market capitalization of $35.1 billion

    It’s a done deal. Omnicom & Publicis to merge

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Omnicom Group Inc and Publicis Groupe SA announced on Sunday evening India time that they  have signed a definitive agreement for a merger of equals, creating the world’s leading company in communications, advertising, marketing and digital services, with combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion / €17.7 billion. Based on closing prices on July 26, 2013, Publicis Omnicom Group will have a combined equity market  capitalization of approximately $35.1 billion / €26.5 billion.

     

    The merged group of more than 130,000 employees will be exceptionally well positioned to serve clients’ evolving needs, helping them to build their brands and grow their businesses in the  rapidly changing communications landscape, notes a communiqué.

     

    The combination, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, brings together leading agency brands as BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, Leo Burnett, TBWA, Razorfish, Publicis Worldwide, Fleishman Hillard, DigitasLBi, Ketchum, StarcomMediaVest, OMD, BBH, Interbrand, MSLGROUP, RAPP, Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), Proximity, Rosetta, CDM, ZenithOptimedia and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners amongst others.

     

    Said Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said: “The communication and marketing landscape has undergone dramatic changes in recent years including the exponential development of new media giants, the explosion of Big Data, blurring of the roles of all players and profound changes in consumer behaviour. This evolution has created both great challenges and tremendous opportunities for clients. John and I have conceived this merger to benefit our clients by bringing together the most comprehensive offering of analogue and digital services. Equally important, it will offer our talented people new avenues for growth and success at the crossroads of strategic intelligence, creativity, science and technology.”

     

    And this is what John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, said: “Both Maurice and I believe this new company reflects our vision of  retaining the best talent, attracting an incredible roster of clients and leading innovation. Omnicom and Publicis Groupe are reshaping the industry by setting a new standard for supporting clients with integrated messaging across marketing disciplines and geographies. This combination will enable us to leverage the skills of our exceptionally talented people,our broad product offering, enhanced global footprint, and tremendous roster of global and local clients. In short, we believe this is a merger that will set our new company on a path to accelerated growth, with long-term benefits for clients, employees and shareholders.”

     

    Messrs Wren and Lévy said jointly: “For many years, we have had great respect for one another as well as for the companies we each lead. This respect has grown in the past few months as we have worked to make this combination a reality. We look forward to co-leading the combined company and are excited about what our people can achieve together for our clients and our shareholders.”

     

    Publicis Omnicom Group has been structured with balanced corporate governance consistent with the spirit  of a merger of equals. Publicis Groupe and Omnicom’s CEOs will lead the company as co-CEOs through an  initial integration and development period of 30 months, following which Mr. Lévy will become non-executive Chairman and Mr. Wren will continue as CEO. The company will have a single-tier board with 16 members, consisting of the two co-CEOs and seven non-executive directors from each company.

     

    For the first year following the closing of the transaction, Bruce Crawford, currently Omnicom Chairman, will be the non-executive Chairman of Publicis Omnicom Group. He will be succeeded by the current Publicis Groupe Chairperson, Elisabeth Badinter, as non-executive Chairperson for the second year following the closing of the transaction.

     

    According to the communiqué, the future scalability and internal synergies of the combined company are expected to generate efficiencies of $500 million / €377 million. The transaction is a cross-border merger of equals under a holding company, Publicis Omnicom Group, in The Netherlands. The Group’s operational head offices will continue to be based in Paris and New York.

     

    The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as numerous  regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.

     

  • The dollar/euro conversion rate has made the business for licensed magazines unprofitable if the revenues don’t go above a threshold

    People, Marie Claire & Geo India edition closure: Dues to be settled soon, no written intimation yet

    By A Correspondent [updated]

     

    It’s ironic that both Marie Claire and People magazines celebrated their seventh and fifth anniversaries respectively just last month. The Indian editions of the two magazines have been doing rather well, or so we were made to understand until recently. And then there was Geo, which has been in the niche space.

     

    On Friday, the Outlook group decided to announce the discontinuing the licensed editions of the three  magazines.  A press statement was issued as follows:

     

    “Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. wishes to inform its readers that it is discontinuing its licensing arrangements with People, Geo and Marie Claire magazines with effect from the forthcoming issues of these magazines.

     

    “Outlook, its promoters and management, however remain fully committed to all other Outlook Group magazines, which will continue to be published in the normal course.”

     

    That last bit is evidently to quash rumours that the entire publishing company is being sold.

    Although Outlook group president Indranil Roy wasn’t available for comment, we were told that all dues of employees impacted by the decision will be settled soonest. Staff salaries have been delayed as have the dues to some editorial vendors for a few months now. Interestingly, from the information received from a few of the affected staffers, no termination notice or written intimation has been issued.

    According to sources, the economics of the publishing licensed titles has been severely affected by the rising dollar prices. What was negotiated in the boom period at around Rs 40-45-odd to the dollar has now crossed Rs 60. Says an industry watcher on anonymity: “While there is advertising revenue for luxury publications, content costs of lifestyle publications have been very high given staff costs, photography and design expenses, et al.” The dollar/euro conversion rate has evidently made the business unprofitable if the revenues don’t go above a threshold.

    Meanwhile, a Facebook post by Marie Claire editor Neena Haridas has led to murmurs on whether the magazine would continue with another partner. “Marie Claire International is a very powerful media brand with 34 editions and we are NOT shutting down our interest in India. Marie Claire India is an integral and important part of our international strategy,” the post read. It is said that even Time Inc, the publishers of People, may not be averse to bring in a new partner or coming in to India independently.

     

  • The newly formed Publicis Omnicom may narrowly topple the Interpublic group from its second spot in India

    Despite Omnicom-Publicis merger, WPP clear #1 in India

    By Samidha Sharma

     

    The $35-billion merger of American advertising and marketing group Omnicom with the Publicis Groupe will put the combined entity right on top of the global advertising industry in terms of revenues. But in India, Martin Sorrell’s WPP will maintain its No 1 position by far compared to its nearest competitor. Publicis Omnicom, the newly formed holding company, however, may narrowly topple the Interpublic group from its second spot in India, according to some industry estimates. These agency networks do not share their revenue numbers publicly in India.

     

    Most industry insiders said that the global merger will not have an immediate impact on the Indian market where the network’s agencies are expected to run independently. Both Publicis and Omnicom have upped their ante in the Indian market with acquisitions over the last couple of years to take on WPP head-on here.

     

    While Omnicom took full control of domestic biggie Mudra in 2011, Publicis has gone on to acquire smaller agencies like Convonix, Resultrix and iStrat, among others, in India. WPP, the clear No 1 locally with revenues topping Rs 1,500 crore, is still double the size of IPG and the newly formed Publicis-Omnicom here.

     

    Agnello Dias
    Agnello Dias

    “The combined entity will help in the Indian context when a global client of either Omnicom or Publicis decides to enter the local market. With a wider bouquet of offerings across creative and media agencies, the group will have higher chances of retaining these clients here,” said Agnello Dias, co-founder, Taproot, an independent agency which was acquired by Dentsu last year.

     

    Over the last few years, as traditional advertising mediums are being challenged by the likes of Google, the world’s largest online search firm, and social media platforms, consolidation has begun to take place rapidly across the advertising world. In 2012, Japanese ad network Dentsu acquired British media buying group Aegis to give it a much needed access to markets outside of its home country in a $4.9-billion buyout.

     

    The merger is unlikely to be a gamechanger in India until they get one head of the combined entity and cut flab which is not going to happen right away, said a CEO of an advertising firm who did not want to be named. Conflicting client interests – such as the one between Coke and Pepsi – is another issue which will be at the fore front for both the networks to handle going forward.

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    “The new entity has the potential of becoming a stronger player as well as a weaker one depending on how post the merger the group handles its clients and employees,” said Ashish Bhasin, chairman (India and CEO (South-East Asia) for Aegis Media.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2013, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The company turned in a profit of Rs 5.9 crore after tax for the quarter as compared to a loss of Rs 23.5 crore in the previous year

    Return of the good times for TV18 & Network18

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s Q1 results announcement time. And although MxMIndia doesn’t do individual look-ins into the financial numbers presented quarter se quarter tak, this one deserves a special mention.

     

    For the q ending June 30, TV18 Broadcast Limited reported revenues for the television and motion pictures business (including IndiaCast) stood at Rs 396.2 crore. Ad revenues grew 6% year-on-year. Indicating the fruits of digitization and a well-orchestration distribution exercise, net distribution income grew 32% sequentially to Rs 34.9 crore this quarter, swinging from a loss of Rs 16 crore previously.

     

    And the real reason why the offices of TV18 were flooded with bubbly yesterday: the reported operating profit for the quarter stood at Rs 23.8 crore, up 57% over previous year. The company turned in a profit of Rs 5.9 crore after tax for the quarter as compared to a loss of Rs 23.5 crore in the previous year. Announcing the results, Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18 said, “The macroeconomic environment continues to be challenging and growth prospects remain uncertain. Given this backdrop, our broadcasting operations turned in a steady performance aided by the roll out of digitization in 42 cities.”

     

    Commenting on the results for the quarter, B. Saikumar, Group CEO, said, “We continue to turn in steady operating profits from our television businesses. Motion pictures have seen losses this quarter and the management is confident of stemming them in the immediate term. While our news and infotainment businesses have seen distinct softness in advertising, our entertainment businesses led by Colors have performed well on this front. Net Distribution Revenues from IndiaCast are on a strong growth trajectory and we continue to be enthused by its growth potential. The industry is going through several important changes on both the advertising and distribution fronts. We believe that these changes are positive and will lead to a stronger industry structure. We remain confident of delivering a strong year ahead

     

    Meanwhile, Network18’s PAT for Q1FY14 stood at Rs 19 crores as compared to Q1FY13 loss of Rs 90 crore.  The digital content and eCommerce business grew to Rs 106.9 crores, registering a growth of 174%, over the corresponding quarter during the previous year (adjusted for the sale of Newswire18).

     

    Network18 inked an agreement with OCP Asia Ltd. to raise growth capital of USD 30 Million in HomeShop18. During the quarter, it sold its entire stake in a Capital18 portfolio company – Webchutney.

     

    Added Mr Bahl: “There were pockets of weaknesses in our portfolio and we are committed to improving segments that are not meeting expectations. We have a strong portfolio of media businesses and remain confident of unlocking their value for our stakeholdeRs ”

     

  • The head of marketing for the Delhi edition of Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Eco Times (Hindi) is set to turn entrepreneur

    Satyam Joshi has put in his papers as Dy Chief Manager – Brand at BCCL

    By A Correspondent

     

    Satyam Joshi, who has worked with The Times  of India group for nine years, has put in his papers. As Deputy Chief Manager – Brand, he was actively involved in the language business and was heading marketing for the Delhi edition of Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Economic Times (Hindi) since the last 6 years. He is set to take the entrepreneurial route.

     

    Prior to joining Navbharat Times, Mr Joshi helped set up the ‘Non – traditional revenue stream’ for Radio Mirchi, popularly known as Mirchi Activation.

     

    In his 13 years in sales and marketing, he has been associated with different industries as well, specifically ICICI Bank and Bombay Dyeing where he was responsible for building the channel and improving the distribution.

     

  • With this strategic move, Gozoop to take over Red Digital's operations, strengthen client portfolio and geographic reach

    Gozoop acquires Red Digital, doubles India revenue

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital agency Gozoop, which recently expanded its global presence by setting up operations in Singapore, has today announced the acquisition of social media agency Red Digital. With this acquisition, clients and employees of Red Digital will be consolidated under the Gozoop brand.

     

    The acquisition is in line with Gozoop’s strategy of increasing the revenue contribution from its Indian operations. Over the past few years, Red Digital has worked for several brands like Mumbai Indians, Dell, PepsiCo, BMW, Parker Pens, Adidas, PVR, Godrej, Berger Paints, Reliance Foundation, Educomp, Citibank, ICC and Discovery Channel.

     

    Commenting on the acquisition, Ahmed Naqvi, Managing Director (India) and Co-Founder of Gozoop said, “Red Digital’s world-class brands and  top talent, together with Gozoop’s end-end digital service offerings and social products like Zozolo, will help move our collective clients and the industry forward. We expect further consolidation in our industry and look forward to acquiring digital agencies to fuel our growth in India as well as to enter international markets like USA, Australia & Qatar.”

     

    Said Rohan Bhansali, CEO and Co-Founder of Gozoop, “This move is in line with our vision to be amongst the Top 2 digital agencies across all our markets.”

     

    Meanwhile, Bhavit Sheth, Co-Founder of Red Digital will be actively involved during the transition period, to ensure a smooth process.

     

    Commenting on the business acquisition, Bhavit Sheth said, “Our clients will now reap the benefits of getting serviced by a much larger agency with more specializations and our employees will now have the chance to further grow their career trajectory and explore many more fields in the digital domain.”

     

    Harsh Jain, Co-Founder of Red Digital said, “Gozoop’s acquisition of Red Digital is a win-win for all parties involved. Red Digital’s clientele will now enjoy international standard best practices in operations, client servicing and processes, while continuing to work with the team they love.”

     

    Following the deal, Gozoop will increase its presence to Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata in addition to its current presence in Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore.